Ireland Differential Rent Calculator 2026

How is council rent calculated?

Every scheme works in the same three stages. First the council works out your assessable income, which is household income from work and most social welfare payments, with some payments excluded entirely. Second it applies disregards and deductions: a weekly income disregard in most councils, a deduction per dependent child, and separate treatment for old age pensioners and subsidiary earners. Third it applies the percentage rate to whatever income is left.

The result is then checked against the council's minimum rent, and against a maximum where one exists. Because the disregard is applied before the rate, two households on identical income in neighbouring counties can pay very different rent. Your council reassesses the figure whenever your household income changes, and you are obliged to report those changes.

What is the maximum rent for a council house?

Most Irish councils apply no maximum at all. Where there is no cap, differential rent keeps rising with income, which is why higher earning council tenants can pay more than a comparable private rent in low demand areas.

Six councils do set a hard ceiling on weekly rent: Meath at EUR 195, Carlow at EUR 180, Tipperary at EUR 140, Galway County at EUR 130, Kerry at EUR 108 and Donegal at EUR 72. Reaching the cap takes a high household income in most of these areas, so the great majority of tenants never hit it. If you are close to a cap, extra income stops increasing your rent once you cross it, which is worth knowing before a household member takes on more hours.

What is the minimum council rent?

Every council sets a floor, so no tenancy is rent free even on the lowest income. Minimum weekly rents run from EUR 10.50 in Kerry up to EUR 51 in Galway City, with most councils sitting between EUR 20 and EUR 36. Kildare works differently and applies a EUR 15 base rent rather than a separate minimum.

The minimum is what a household dependent entirely on social welfare will usually pay. Because Galway City applies 20% to all pooled household income with no disregard at all, its floor is the highest in the country at EUR 51, while Kerry combines a low EUR 10.50 minimum with a EUR 140 disregard. This is the clearest example of why the minimum and the disregard have to be read together rather than separately.

Is council rent the same as HAP rent?

No, though the calculation is closely related. If you rent directly from your local authority or an Approved Housing Body, you pay differential rent to the council and that is the whole story. If you are on the Housing Assistance Payment, you pay the same style of income based weekly rent to the council, but the council separately pays your private landlord up to a published HAP rent limit.

The practical difference is the top-up. Where the market rent is above the HAP limit plus any discretion the council allows, a HAP tenant pays that shortfall directly to the landlord on top of their weekly differential rent. A straightforward council tenant never has a top-up. Use the HAP calculator if a private landlord is involved.

Dublin City Council

18% of assessable income above a EUR55 weekly threshold. Minimum rent of EUR35.82 per week. EUR3 deduction per dependent child. Subsidiary earners capped at EUR40/week.

Cork City Council

15% of assessable income after income allowances: EUR39 for the principal earner, EUR20 per dependent child and EUR54 per dependent adult, all off income before the rate applies. Subsidiary earners capped at EUR23.80/week. Minimum rent EUR24.30.

Fingal County Council

14.5% flat rate of net income with no income threshold or disregard. Minimum rent approximately EUR36.83/week. No child deductions. Subsidiary earners charged 14.5% capped at EUR60/week.

South Dublin County Council

Lowest rate in Ireland at 10% of total household income plus EUR3. Minimum rent EUR27.40/week. No child deductions. Income is aggregated across all earners.

Galway City Council

20% flat rate (17% for those over 66). Minimum rent EUR51/week (20% of the social welfare rate, EUR50.80 rounded; the over-66 minimum is 17% of the pension rate). Child deductions removed. All household income is pooled. No separate subsidiary calculation.

Limerick City and County Council

Two-tier system: 14.5% up to EUR275/week, 19% above that threshold. EUR30 minimum rent. No maximum rent (removed in 2023). EUR12 deduction per child.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

16% of income above EUR35 weekly threshold. Minimum rent EUR22/week. Subsidiary earners charged 11% above EUR35 with no cap. EUR1 deduction per child.

Meath County Council

EUR28 base on first EUR152, then 25% of income above that threshold. Minimum EUR28/week, maximum EUR195/week. EUR4 deduction per child. EUR10 flat per subsidiary earner. A 66+ household whose only income is the State Pension pays EUR22/week, plus EUR15 for each additional EUR100 of income.

Kildare County Council

EUR15 base on first EUR135, then 20% of income above that threshold. No minimum rent. EUR1.50 deduction per child. EUR10 flat per subsidiary earner. Over-65 1-bed max EUR25.

Kerry County Council

EUR15.50 base plus 20% of income above EUR140/week. Minimum rent varies by property size (EUR10.50 to EUR15.50). Revised on 7 February 2026: the 2026 maximum rent rises to EUR86 to EUR108 by number of bedrooms (Housing Units EUR50), increases again in 2027 and is removed entirely from 2028.